5/28/2009 @ 6:00PM

Made In America

Made in America meant something very different 30 years ago. It will mean something very different 30 years from now. All we can do is make good guesses. The facts are that 12 million adults make something for a living in the U.S., and their output accounts for $1.6 trillion, one-fifth of world manufacturing, more than that of any other nation. Yet our unprecedented manufacturing muscle is, to many, and justifiably so, in a state of crisis. Those 12 million jobs were once 19.5 million jobs. Since its peak in 1979, factory employment has never stopped falling. The hard truth? It never will. Manufacturing is always in crisis. Productivity eliminates jobs here, in China, in Mexico and everywhere. Making goods will continue to play an important part in our economy, but it will employ a smaller workforce. The growth will be in the ideas that come with the hands: innovation, automation and customization. Hands have skill; people have passion.